Science can be looked at in two ways, I suppose: as a self­less quest for know­ledge in the serv­ice of human pro­gress; or as a really good excuse to blow shit up. This book sits firmly in the second camp, and as I make a living org­an­is­ing this kind of stuff for public audi­ences at one of the UK’s hands-on science centres, it was inev­it­able that Wholly Irrespons­ible Experi­ments would land in my in-tray.

So, is it any good, then? Well, yes, but not actu­ally wholly irres­pons­ible. It comes with inst­ruct­ions that tell you to put the match out after light­ing a candle and does not employ any­thing more eso­teric than house­hold ingred­ients.